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Brian D. King

November 20, 2013 3:43 am
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Chairman of the CKR Global Group of Companies

I was the majority owner of one of the country’s largest investigation agencies with minority partners and no clear succession plan for retirement or ability to market the business for a potential liquidity event.

I was really too young to totally retire so our best option was to continue to grow. However, we couldn’t without an equity investment.

I was introduced to Granite through a friend in the industry whose company had already been acquired by Granite.

Granite addressed my succession plan and our need for liquidity. They allowed me to take some chips off the table to ensure financial security for my family and put some hard earned cash in my jeans; but, they also allowed me to stay on as a significant shareholder and the operating mind of the company with little or no interference.

When Granite decided to exit – which had been in the original plan – another equity investment partner purchased us and I had the opportunity for a second liquidity event which provided further cash for the future.

Granite was true to their word in all aspects and Doug Buchanan and his partners at Granite were wonderful to work with. I hope to someday again be involved with them.

I am still here as Chairman but, now our revenues are $40 million per annum as compared to the $10 million per annum when we did the original deal with Granite in 2004. This growth would not have taken place without Granite’s involvement.

I probably would not have done the deal if it wasn’t for the trust that I put in the Granite Partners and their being true to their word every step of the way. One of the promises they made when they purchased us was that they would not interfere with our day-to-day business and, outside of acquisition and finance issues, would only give advice when we requested. They stood true to that and trusted my partners and myself to continue to run the day-to-day operations unfettered.

While I enjoy working with our new partners, to be honest I miss the interaction and dealings with Granite Partners and wished they were still involved. But, I recognize they had to follow through with their plans to fulfill their promise to their shareholders.